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Occupational differentiation and exclusion in early Canadian accountancy

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  • John Richard Edwards
  • Stephen P. Walker

Abstract

Canada’s 1881 census enumerators posed a range of questions that provide scope for an in--depth investigation of the identity of its accounting functionaries (accountants and bookkeepers) in that year. The significance of our findings is explained by applying the concept of closure through exclusion and occupational differentiation. We discover that Canada’s accounting community, at the dawn of professional organisation, was dominated by people originating from Great Britain & Ireland. The rural/urban divide for Canada’s accountants is the inverse of that for the population as a whole and, as in Britain, congregation occurs around the major commercial ports. Significant differentiation exists between the demographic profile of Canada’s accounting functionaries compared with its entire population and between that of accountants compared with bookkeepers. Strong evidence of exclusionary closure is revealed through an analysis of the demographic characteristics of the initial leaderships of Canada’s early accounting associations. The paper concludes by identifying opportunities for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • John Richard Edwards & Stephen P. Walker, 2008. "Occupational differentiation and exclusion in early Canadian accountancy," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 373-391, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:38:y:2008:i:5:p:373-391
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2008.9665772
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    Cited by:

    1. Kelly Thomson & Joanne Jones, 2017. "Precarious Professionals: (in)Secure Identities and Moral Agency in Neocolonial Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(4), pages 747-770, December.
    2. Poullaos, Chris, 2016. "Canada vs Britain in the imperial accountancy arena, 1908–1912: Symbolic capital, symbolic violence," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-63.
    3. Annisette, Marcia & Trivedi, Viswanath Umashanker, 2013. "Globalization, paradox and the (un)making of identities: Immigrant Chartered Accountants of India in Canada," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-29.
    4. Thomson, Kelly & Jones, Joanne, 2016. "Colonials in Camouflage: Metonymy, mimicry and the reproduction of the colonial order in the age of diversity," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 58-75.
    5. Antonelli, Valerio & D'Alessio, Raffaele & Walker, Stephen P., 2023. "Operationalizing expulsion. Jewish accountants in Fascist Italy, 1938–1943," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. O'Regan, Philip & Killian, Sheila, 2021. "Beyond professional closure: Uncovering the hidden history of plain accountants," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Annisette, Marcia, 2017. "Discourse of the professions: The making, normalizing and taming of Ontario's “foreign-trained accountant”," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 37-61.

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